A Secret Dream
by Mairelle
Summary: "So there's actually another Uchiha massacre survivor? But she's nothing like Sasuke! She's clumsy, nice, and a girl! She barely has any ninja skills and she works at a BOOKSTORE!" Naruto exclaimed. "Well, Naruto, as surprising as it is, it's...-hiatus-
1. Complicated to a Point

I know, I'm getting crazy with the whole writing thing, seeing as though I'm most-likely writing more than I can handle…heh, heh, heh… I just have this really bad habit of getting a bunch of ideas and writing them before I forget them….if I'm lucky, this one will at least work out a little better…than the other….what, five stories or something? Ok, Just to let you know, Akari is as old as Itachi in this story, and Itachi is older than Sasuke by…four years…it's my fic, so I don't care if its wrong. Also, Kakashi is gonna be six years older than Akari and Itachi…also Itachi is younger than Akari by a month and a week. Also, last add in, Akari is Sasuke and Itachi's cousin.

Well here's the full summary:

"So there's actually another Uchiha massacre survivor? But she's nothing like Sasuke! She's clumsy, nice, and a girl! She barely has any ninja skills and she works at a BOOKSTORE!" Naruto exclaimed. "Well, Naruto, as surprising as it is, it's a hundred percent true." Kakashi stated. "You hafta be kidding me." "Sorry to say, but nope."

Interesting, ne, ne?

* * *

Through Konoha, a blond-headed ninja in training walked. This boy as you should know of, is Naruto Uzumaki, the number one knuckle headed ninja—or as he would like it, future Hokage! Naruto had just finished his lunch from the Ichiraku Ramen stand and walked back home, stomach full—and pockets empty… Then, he noticed a person, carrying a large stack of books. The stack was so large, that it towered over the poor person—with that, the person also happened to wobble, a lot, while trying to walk and balance all the books. 

Then Naruto noticed something oddly particular about those books…they all happened to be books of the 'Icha Icha' series, "Hey, those are the perverted books that Kakashi-sensei reads!"

"W-wahh!" the girl was surprised by the sudden talking and deftly tripped—over air. And all the books went tumbling down…scrambled all over the floor.

"Oh, no!" a girl's voice shouted in dismay, "The books! Oh, I'm really sorry, did any of them hit you?" the girl looked at him with worry.

"Don't worry about me, Nee-chan; you should be worrying about those books instead. You know, those are really perverted. I don't suggest you read them, they're really bad for you!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Oh, these aren't mine. I work at the bookstore 'Himitsu Yume,' and I was just making a delivery!" she stuttered.

"Oh, well, I'm Uzumaki, Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha!" the blond haired boy pointed proudly at himself.

"O-oh, Uzumaki-san, nice to meet you, I'm Akari Uchi—Tsukihara." Akari stuttered, she had almost admitted she was an Uchiha!

"Akari Uchi-Tsukihara-neechan?" Naruto stared at Akari oddly.

"N-no, j-just, Akari Tsukihara…," she grinned wryly.

"Oh, okay then, Akari-neechan!" Naruto grinned largely.

"Oh, what do we have here?" It was Hatake, Kakashi, the copy-cat ninja—surprise, surprise!

"Ah, H-hatake-san, your books—I wass gonna deliver them—but, you're here and—here they are!" Akari stuttered, flustered while handing Kakashi the 'Icha Icha' books.

"Thank you, Akari-san," he smiled a smile that most girls would melt at, but Akari was too busy blushing to notice.

"Akari-neechan, you're turning as red as a tomato." Naruto pointed out.

"I-I am?" She blushed even more.

"Do you have a fever?" Naruto pushed his hand to her forehead, but by then, she was already knocked out by all the blood rushing to her head.

"Akari-neechan?!" Naruto panicked, "Kakashi-sensei, what happened?"

"She just passed out, don't worry. The blood probably rushed to her head and she fainted," Kakashi said, without worry.

"Kakashi-sensei, how can you say that without even a care?!" Naruto shouted, but then noticed that Kakashi was already occupied with a 'Icha Icha' book. 'No wonder, that pervert!' Naruto thought angrily.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm gonna take her to the Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto shouted as he picked her up with a piggy-back ride.

"Sure, sure," Kakashi not even paying attention, walked off with his books.

* * *

_**At the Hokage's office… **_

"Tsunade-baachan, I have a patient that needs you help!" Naruto shouted as he barged into her office.

"You, brat, don't come barging into my office like that!" Tsunade pounded Naruto on the head.

"OW—but Tsunade-baachan, Akari-neechan is hurt!!" Naruto yelped.

"Akari-chan?" Tsunade stopped to listen.

"Yeah, Akari-neechan!" Naruto shouted.

"What did you do to her?" Tsunade hit him again.

"OUCH! I didn't do anything obaa-chan!" Naruto yelled while trying to nurse the giant bump forming on his head.

"If you didn't do anything, then why is she unconscious?" Tsunade glared.

"U-um, w-what's g-going o-on?" Akari asked as she suddenly but slowly woke up.

"Oh, Akari-neechan, you're awake!" Naruto shouted.

"Quiet down, you fool!" Tsunade shouted then softened her tone, "Akari-chan, how are you feeling?"

"O-oh, Tsunade-sama, how nice to see you, I'm fine, thank you," Akari smiled cheerfully.

"Akari, I found out on your medical records that you haven't had a check up since you were 10, is that true?" Tsunade asked.

"Y-yes," she replied meekly.

"How about I give you one, free of charge?" Tsunade grinned.

"That's a first—free of charge—pfft," Naruto scoffed, but in turn got whacked on the head, "OUCH!"

"As I was saying…how about it?" Tsunade smiled kindly. Tsunade had grown to like Akari's tentative shyness and found the stuttering cute, but in its own way annoying.

"I-I r-really don't—I'm sorry—I shouldn't—I can't…," Akari stammered in reply.

Tsunade softly whacked her on the forehead, "Akari-chan, you're seventeen, you need to grow out of that stuttering habit. And I insist you get a check-up. What if you have some dangerous disease? We'd have to treat it before it got serious!" Tsunade said sternly.

"O-ok," and with that Akari gave in to Tsunade's pestering.

So Akari got her weight and height measured, a blood-test was taken, and she was examined for any other extra info and diseases.

"The blood-test will be the final thing to make sure you're all healthy—so far you're good, but we just wanna make sure," Tsunade announced, "The results will be in by tomorrow."

"That's good news!" Naruto clapped.

"Yeah, I guess…," Akari said with worry… 'What if they find out that I'm an Uchiha? What will I do? I might have to go into hiding, or the ANBU might have to keep me locked up or I might hafve to be watched at all time like a criminal on the loose or—GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF AKARI!' Akari scolded herself, 'Oh, who am I kidding… I have no skills, I'm not a ninja, I just a good BOOKWORM!' she cried silent mental tears.

"Oh, the results are in early!" Tsunade grinned then her eyes widened ten-fold, "Akari—you're an UCHIHA?!"

"I'm caught, red-handed…," she smiled weakly…

_**Later, with Naruto**_ (Naruto had been forced to leave when Tsunade was inspecting Akari.)

* * *

Naruto had just walked out of the office and he could hear it coming from the window, just barely he heard the words, "Akari—you're an Uchiha?!" 

Naruto's eyes bulged and then he raced towards the first person he could think of—Sasuke. Naruto ran like the wind…

"Sasuke-bastard! Sasuke-bastard!" Naruto yelled as he spotted Sasuke training as Kakashi supervised.

"What do you want, dobe, I'm in the middle of training and I'm trying to focus—unlike you." Sasuke glared.

Naruto glared back, " Fine then, then I won't tell you the super-crazy, super-true things I heard!" Naruto stuck his tongue out.

"What are you blabbing about now?" Sasuke glared even more.

"I found out that there's another U-C-H-I-H-A besides you!" Naruto stuck his tongue out even more, but pulled back as Sasuke skimmed a kunai right past it.

"Yeah, there were more Uchihas besides me—except they're all D-E-A-D!" Sasuke aimed another kunai at Naruto, this time intending not to miss.

"NO, she's alive!" Naruto shouted.

"_She_?" Sasuke for once, out of character, blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, Akari-neechan is an Uchiha!"

"Akari…?" this time both Kakashi and Sasuke stared at him oddly.

"Yup!"

"Dobe, this time, you've gone too far!"

* * *

_**Sudden Flashback…**_

"_Akari-neechan, these cookies taste great!" a younger (before the massacre) Sasuke munched on a chocolate chip cookie. _

"_I'm glad you like them Sasuke-chan!" a younger Akari smiled softly. Sasuke seemed to be the only one that she didn't stutter around, so that meant she completely trusted him. _

"_Mmhm!" Sasuke grinned with a chocolate smeared mouth. _

"_What, Akari-chan, I can't have one?" Itachi pooped up all of a sudden and grinned mischievously. _

"_O-of c-course y-you c-can I-itachi-san," Akari stuttered while offering the plate of cookies. _

"_Mm, these are good!" Itachi grinned while also munching on the cookies, looking a lot like Sasuke—mouth chocolate smeared. _

"_Sasuke, wipe your mouth," Akari scolded as she cleaned his mouth with a wet napkin. _

"_What about me?" Itachi teased while pointing to his dirty mouth. _

"_YOU WISH!" Akari shouted as she blushed. _

"_Akari-neechan looks like a tomato!" Sasuke giggled. Akari just blushed even harder than she fainted from the blood-rush. _

"_Akari-neechan fainted…," Sasuke stated. _

_And in unision with Itachi, continued, "—Again." _

* * *

Sasuke nailed Naruto onto a tree with seven kunai sticking to his clothes…all so close to his skin… 

"What did you do that for?!" Naruto shouted.

"No reason in particular—I just felt mad at you." Sasuke grumbled.

"What?!"

* * *

_**Ten minutes later, when Sasuke agreed with Kakashi to let Naruto down… **_

"So there's actually another Uchiha massacre survivor? But she's nothing like Sasuke! She's clumsy, nice, and a girl! She barely has any ninja skills and she works at a BOOKSTORE!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto, you're the one that came running to tell us that." Sasuke glared.

"But, I mean like, Tsunade-baachan gave Akari-neechan a blood-test…and she said Akari-neechan was an Uchiha."

"Well, Naruto, as surprising as it is, it's a hundred percent true. Since Tsunade did a test…," Kakashi stated.

"You hafta be kidding me."

"Sorry to say, but nope."

"…," Sasuke stayed silent as he thought, 'So it's true, you are a live, Akari-neechan…So I'm not the only one besides the traitor left…'

"Sasuke, why are you so quiet, I thought you'd be jumping for joy?" Naruto asked obliviously.

"Hn," and with that sasuke raced off into the trees.

"What's up with him?" Naruto scoffed.

"He just needs a little time to think," Kakashi grinned pervertedly as he turned the next page of his 'Icha Icha' book.

"Oh…,"

* * *

"Akari-neechan…," Sasuke whispered as he ran through the trees. Silently, a single tear ran down his face…

* * *

"So you are alive, Akari-chan," a voice smiled, "How I've missed you…I thought you might have died in that fire during the great Uchiha massacre…" 

"Itachi, what are we waiting for?" a literally fishy looking guy asked his partner.

"Not yet Kisame, I want to see how this drama will unfold before we attack…," Itachi replied.

"What are you plotting…?" Kisame looked at Itachi suspiciously.

"…," but there was no reply.

* * *

I'm gonna end it here! Thanks for reading, please leave a review, and I hope you all like it! Where is Sasuke heading? What is Itachi planning? It'll all be in the future of this story…also if you have any pairings you'd like, character pairings or any decisions on who Akari might be paired with please tell me….also I'd prefer a pairing decision of someone Akari's age or at least close—preferably not any of the genin teams? 

Also, incase you might wanna know the meaning of Akari's work place, Himitsu Yume...I just combined the words Himitsu (Secret) and Yume (Dream) to form the literal term "Secret Dream"


	2. Exposing Like a Peeled Banana

[Please skip this if my notes do not concern you, and simply scroll down to the line.

For now, my other stories are…well…on a writer's block and I'm more a person to start ideas than to continue them…I know…that is—quite in most people's opinion—a bad habit…I'm am very sorry.

There is now greater joy for me to either review other people's writing, but also creating stories and spinning fresh ideas into a web of plots has also become a great joy, unfortunately, most of my work is easily comparable to chicken scratch as I also bet my rambling is boring you…so on with the story.

**Also, to clarify a former reviewer's question, Sasuke is now 15 as well as the other—no longer referred to as, but I shall anyways—gennin teams. Not including Team Gai of course, as they will be a year older just like in the original story. The rest I leave to you readers to do the math from my previous info in chapter one. **

On with the story (I said it before, but apologies for not doing so myself)!!

* * *

Furious tapping noises could be heard as Akari stamped down the bustling streets of Konoha's market area.

'OH GOD, OH GOD, what am I going to do?!' Akari panicked while bumping into several miscellaneous objects. WHAM—she had bumped into someone as well.

"I am s-so s-sorry!" Akari apologized while bobbing her head up and down in an attempt to make very quick bows as she hurried past the person.

"You dropped your—" But the sentence couldn't be ended as Akari had long gone left a trail of dust. The boy, who looked very obviously like a ninja, ruffled his oddly perfect bowl cut hair and knitted his overly large eyebrows.

"Lee, what are you sitting around for, help me carry the supplies!" shouted an angry female.

"Much apologies, Tenten, but a lady bumped into me and rushed off. She left her, um, library card, or what looks to be a library card," Lee looked confused, not just because of what kind of card the "lady" left, but also why she was in such a rush.

"Well, I guess we have a little extra time…," Tenten made a thoughtful look, "Help me drop the supplies off at the training area, and I'll help you look for her."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Lee gave a signature full teethed grin with a blinding flash.

"Ugh, Lee, you have to stop doing that…I swear I might go blind," Tenten blinked furiously, "You might as well put that thing to good use…maybe a temporary blinding agent against enemies?"

"That is a great idea Tenten!" Lee exclaimed.

"Whatever, just help me carry these bags…," Tenten sighed, it was a wonder how she even survives.

* * *

_**Back with Akari… **_

'Not good, not good,' Akari paced around quickly. Her manager at the bookstore had went out. The shop was locked. And she dropped her key somewhere, 'How many places can a simple card key be?!'

"Um…is this the H-himitsu Yume b-bookstore?" a shy voice asked behind her.

"Ah, y-yes," Akari peeked behind her to find a cute looking petit girl with short navy blue hair and white milky eyes. The girl was constantly glancing at the floor and twiddling her fingers—and obvious sign of nervousness, "So, w-what can I do for you, little miss?"

"Ah, um…I cannot s-seem to g-get into the store and I r-really w-wanted to see if t-they have a book I want…," the girl once again looked down and took a peek at the locked door.

"Man, what can I do…," Akari sighed, "Actually, I work here, but it seems I am locked out as well, I must've dropped my key somewhere…"

"Oh, w-would you like me to h-help you find it?" the girl gave a shy smile and looked up towards Akari's face, but quickly lost her courage and looked back down.

"Hm, that would be n-nice um, e-excuse me for asking, w-what is your n-name?" Akari smiled weakly. It seems they both have a habit of stuttering. But this girl was cute and seemed innocent, so Akari's nervousness quickly faded.

"Hyuuga, Hinata, pleased to meet you," Hinata bowed.

"Hyuuga, huh? Well, Hinata-chan—can I call you that—pleased to meet you as well. My name is Akari, and I'm currently trying to figure out how to get in." Akari smiled and patted Hinata on the head, "How about we break in?"

"Eeeeeh, b-break in, I couldn't do that!" Hinata waved her hands frantically with fright.

"No worries, Hinata-chan, I work in here, so it won't really count as breaking in!" Akari smiled and dragged Hinata towards the door.

"C-can't you use a key?" Hinata dug her heels into the ground to slow down Akari's dragging.

"I would, if I didn't lose it," Akari went back to sighing and gave up pulling Hinata.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, I forgot that happened…," Hinata looked like she was going to cry.

"NO DON'T CRY!" Akari pulled Hinata into a hug and blathered out a burst of apologies while crying huge crocodile tears.

"…," Hinata didn't—couldn't I mean—respond.

"AHHH!! I'm sorry!" and Akari released Hinata from her death grip bear hug.

"I-it's okay," Hinata blushed.

"You're so adorable!" Akari squealed and hugged Hinata once again, but gentler this time. But by chance, someone walked by and saw this leading to…

"YOU! UNHAND HINATA-SAMA (HIME)!" another with eyes similar to Hinata's and long dark brown hair tied in a low pony tail swiftly leaped towards Akari and knocked her out by hitting her VERY hard on the back of her head. A loud thump was heard as Akari dropped to the floor unconscious.

"Neji-niichan! W-why d-did you knock out A-akari-san?!" Hinata panicked, while picking up Akari.

"Sorry Hinata, it just looked like she was trying to choke you…," it was rare to see Neji so decomposed, but he couldn't help it, as Hinata had become very dear to him. She was like a little sister to him.

"It's okay, Neji-niichan, but we should bring her to the hospital, incase you hit her too hard," There was a very noticeable bump forming on her head…

"I guess, if we must…," Neji sighed and carried Akari on his back, "I think this woman is a little too big for you to carry."

If Akari were conscious, she'd either be blushing madly, or throwing a tantrum because he basically called her heavy—or in other words fat…

Hinata followed Neji to the Konoha Village Hospital.

* * *

"Ugh, I feel like I just got rammed into by an elephant…backwards," Akari groaned as she slowly sat up in a bed.

"That might be possible, cause you have a pretty nasty bump there on your head, but I think you'll live," a nurse giggled while recording Akari's recovery.

"Where am I?" Akari looked around the puke green painted room. Then she looked down at her white bed sheets and hospital gown that looked like childish patterned pajamas.

"You may leave now, Kayo-san, I'd like to have a word with this lady," Tsunade stepped into the room and shooed the nurse away, "So, Miss _**Uchiha**_, like to explain yourself?"

"Um…uh, where am I?" Akari said in attempt to change the subject.

"A hospital," Tsunade said while checking the recovery charts next to Akari's bed. Tsunade was, after all, a medical-nin, before an interrogator.

"Oh…," Akari's gaze strayed away, as far as possible from Tsunade's figure. This wasn't going anywhere, she had to do something. Keeping a secret like this for so long really wore Akari out anyways.

"Tsunade, I want to tell you something…about a friend of mine," Akari started.

"Ok, I'm listening," was the reply.

"When I—er, my f-friend was little, she was never well a-accepted into the U-uchiha family. Although her father was Uchiha, her m-mother was not. T-to make matters worst, her mother was of l-low social s-standing. My f-friend, also never gained the Uchiha's prized S-sharingan. She was b-basically a n-nuisance in the Uchiha family. When the m-massacre occurred, she had nowhere to go. Even the neighbors of the Uchiha estate, had never heard of her, and refused to take her in. That is why, s-she decided to live her life like a shadow, not wanting attention, only supporting from b-behind, and living a life she need not have many to worry for her," Akari spoke in a silent, wavering voice, contemplating the risky affects of her telling Tsunade so much about her 'friend.'

"Well, I believe, your _friend_ is being foolish," Tsunade spoke boldly, even after Akari made a noticeable flinch, "but I also believe that this friend of yours is hiding something more—for good purposes or bad ones, though, I cannot judge. Further more, what's done is done, and that your friend can tell me more about this later. The most important thing is, though, is that your friend—no matter what kind of person she is or what intent she has—I don't believe anyone wants to live as a shadow, because a shadow can also be cared for."

"Deep lecture, Tsunade-baachan," it was Naruto—at the door, apparently trying to eavesdrop—wait, why is he at the door…? "Too bad Akari-neechan already made a run for it." There was no look funnier, compared to the one occupying Tsunade's face. First it was surprise, then it was anger, then it was 'baffled,' then it was twisted into something more like a dog when it's flicked on the nose. In other words, 'what the hell.'

"But she was—when—but—FWAP!" she simply swiped at his head out of frustration.

"Aww, why'd you hafta hit me? I didn't do anything!" Naruto whined. How many times must he go through this?

"I'll get back to you on that." Tsunade was in a rush. Akari made a break for it when she was giving a very important lecture. That conniving brat! Ninja or not, she was a lot more sneaky than the average kid.

* * *

"Whew, nearly got caught there. Tsunade must be after my neck by now." Akari huffed. It did seem she was a lot more composed (no stuttering) when she was by herself.

"A-ah, Akari-san?" there was a familiar, soft voice. Hinata watched her from around the corner of the wall. A little while ago, while Akari was still unconscious, Hinata had wandered off from the hospital. Seeing as though Akari wasn't awake, Hinata thought it would be nice to pick up a get well present for Akari. By coincidence, they meet.

"Hinata-chan…," Akari's eyes went watery, imitating a splurge of—obviously fake, but hard to refuse—tears, "I'm…"

* * *

And I stop here! Err…I know it was short. I know I took a long time to update…I HAD REASONS THOUGH!! One, lack of time (homework…dawdling habits), two, for a fraction of my non-updating time, the computer was infact, refusing to work with any software, and three, I accidentally lost the file in my computer…couldn't figure out where I put it…SO I'M VERY SORRY!! Next chapter I promise—if not by tomorrow—within the month (and if it takes with in the month, I'll drag up a double posting). Thank you readers for keeping up with me! 


	3. Memoirs From a Slightly Lonely Past pt1

Hello dear readers…um, I'm very sorry I didn't quite keep up very well with my word…uh…well, at least the next chapter came faster than the last…! It was only…uh like…8 days over due?

Couple notes:

-thank you to those who put me on your alert list, I'm glad there is at least some signs that people enjoy my story.

-"_**Hi**_" this would be a flashback

-"_God_…" this would be thoughts

-"I'm sorry I haven't been reciting my daily prayers…" this would be…normal speech?

And on with the story!

* * *

"—Pregnant." 

"E-excuse m-me?!" Hinata nearly choked.

"Just kidding, I'm hungry," Akari grinned cheekily.

"Well…um…," Hinata was still caught up in the moment, locked in on an eerie silence.

"I'm hungry….," Akari repeated, enunciating each syllable.

"O-oh, I guess I should t-treat you s-since it was my f-fault you were k-knocked out." Hinata still looked unsure of herself.

"Good call. I'm starving and I'd eat just about anything but hospital food. All day since yesterday it's been nothing but icky, mediocre hospital food." Akari grumbled.

"O-oh, o-okay, how a-about r-ramen?" Momentary pause and nodding of self assurance.

"OKAY!" Akari bounced around as if dosed with a pound of sugar.

Hinata led Akari to the only ramen place she could think of, the Ichiraku Ramen store. Ichiraku's was small shop in Konoha, famous for ramen, which also happened to be Naruto's favorite restaurant.

Naruto actually happened to be there at the time. He was on his eighth bowl, working on his appetite. After Sasuke had run off, he went to Tsunade, in order to ask about Akari. He once again eavesdropped at the time when Tsunade was giving her heavy lecture. Tsunade whacked him for no reason. Then he was back to square one.

"OI! HINATA! HEY, OVER HERE!" Naruto waved. He thought he could use some company, but he hadn't noticed Akari trailing behind Hinata.

"A-ah, N-naruto," Hinata blushed a furious red. She had had a long time crush on Naruto. A crush which was still building. None the less, Naruto still remained oblivious, no matter what she tried to do.

"O-oh, h-hello." Akari noticed Naruto. She recognized him as the boy she bumped into earlier, right before she fainted again.

"Akari-neechan!!" Naruto looked satisfied. Now he could ask her about the whole Uchiha thing.

They were all seated, Hinata ordered a bowl of beef ramen for Akari, and they settled down, starting idle conversations such as 'how are you doing.'

Then Naruto spoke up, "Akari, so is it true?"

"S-so is w-what t-true?" Akari stuttered. Once a habit always a habit. Unfortunately Naruto took this the wrong way.

"AHAH! So you're trying to hide it?" He put on a suspicious face.

"H-hide what?" now she was honestly nervous. The twerp could be intimidating…if you were her.

"You're a you-know-what." Naruto stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's impolite, Naruto!" It was Ayame the daughter of the store owner, "If I catch you intimidating innocent girls again, I'm gonna call the ANBU on you!"

"But, Ayame-neechan!" Naruto wailed, not knowing what he did wrong, "I didn't do anything wrong!" He was just trying to ask if Akari was an Uchiha, but most other, who had no idea what he was talking about, thought he was asking _something_ else quite impolite.

Akari let out an inward sigh and slurped up some soup from her recently arrived ramen. It was tough keeping her identity secret as an Uchiha. She almost thought Naruto was going to ruin the whole thing for her. Her masquerade. Her secret. The himitsu…

The day sequenced itself out like this: finishing lunch, walking back to the bookstore to help Hinata find her book (see the last chapter), and a lot of daydreaming.

"I'm not a princess in a fairy tale…," Akari whispered, breaking the silence between Hinata and her. Akari was walking Hinata back to her estate. But there was silence. Lots. Hinata had ended up buying a book called "First Crushes," a popular series among young girls that told multiple short tales of girls handling their first crushes and tips at the back of the book. It was also rumored—although the author remained 'anonymous'—the author was the same person that wrote the 'Icha Icha' books. There was a…similar….writing style.

"E-excuse me?" Hinata barely caught the words Akari practically hid with a sigh.

"Nothing, Hinata…nothing _hime_…," Akari had this faraway look in her eyes…as if she was remembering something sad or distant.

"…," Hinata's face portrayed a look of worry. What was wrong with Akari?

"Hinata-hime." It was Neji, the boy that um….knocked Akari out.

"Neji-niisama?" I think Hinata just changed suffixes…

"Hinata-hime, you have a special dinner at eight, please prepare quickly. It is a very important… engagement…," Neji seemed to hesitate before saying engagement.

"E-engagement?" Hinata looked surprised, "W-what do you m-mean?"

"Hiashi-sama shall explain later, please be quick." Neji whisked Hinata away into the house, gave Akari a lasting glance, and then nodded as he strutted (can the great and pompous Neji strut?) away.

"Okay…bye….," Akari stood there for a minute then walked off.

"_The shadows whisper…angels sing…trees make way….for the king_…" Akari sang—or more like whispered—a small tune to herself, remembering a memoir from far long ago.

* * *

"_**Papa, where are we going?" a younger Akari gripped onto her dad's shirt. Akari's father was a tall man, slightly lanky, but with the same traits as most Uchihas—dark hair (black or blue) with onyx eyes and a slightly gaunt face. But his face wasn't as gaunt and more or less cheery, with a healthy warm glow. **_

"_**We're going to celebrate Sasuke-chan's birthday." He replied with a smile. **_

"_**Sasuke-chan…?" at this part of her life, she had not met Sasuke yet and was quite closed off from other members of the Uchiha family. The only close—yet quite distant—connection they had to the Uchiha family was that her father was an Uchiha himself. You'd think he be very close to them, but in more specific words, they had disowned him. He married an outsider. That was strictly against the Uchiha tradition. Karin Moriyama, Akari's mother, was a beautiful women. Pale skin, auburn hair, kind, sparkling green eyes, and a thin figure that looked so fragile it could break like glass… **_

"_**Nice to see you again, Yotsumaru," a more elderly Uchiha greeted Akari's father. Akari's father—Yotsumaru Uchiha—though disowned, was still cherished by many of the Uchiha family members. Mostly it were the people of the lower class of Uchihas, because most of the higher ups were much like pampered brats, only accepted those of their 'class.' Yotsumaru was still quite young, marrying Karin at the age of 24, but had Akari when he was only 20. Karin was two years older, but also very youthful. Youthful…I'm starting to sound like Gai-sensei… **_

"_**Where's the little fellow? The birthday prince?" Prince, princess, king, queen, all popular words in Yotsumaru's vocabulary. Especially when it came to kids. **_

"_**Ah, Sasuke-chan is getting dressed up," another elderly Uchiha spoke up, this time, a woman, "He recently got his Sharringan, so today's birthday is especially important." **_

"_**Amazing. Never heard anyone get it that early…well, that is, besides Itachi." Father was never comfy around Itachi. For some reason, he said, that Itachi felt like the type of person…who despised the Uchiha way of life…to a point of almost drastic measures. At that time, I didn't know what he meant…but when the massacre occurred, I only wish I never knew at all. The betrayal was….painful.

* * *

**_

"E-excuse me, m'am, are u alright?" a passerby waved a hand in front of Akari, as she realized that her blast from the past left her immobile—standing the middle of the road—looking much like she was going to perform hara-kiri or something.

"Ah, s-sorry, um, I was just thinking…f-for a very l-long t-time," she stuttered, embarrassed.

"Okay, m'am, as long as you're alright…," the passerby walked off. It seemed like he wasn't the only one that noticed her being a space cadet. There was a lot of whispering amongst the large crowd that was beginning to disperse. All the people were staring—some spreading gossip like wild fires—pointing at her now bewildered state.

* * *

IT WAS SHORT!! I know it…again, sorry, I'm very amateur—especially at balancing my real life and my …secret behind the stage writing life? I'll try to continue the story and update faster…uh…like…wait another two weeks to a month? I have the ideas…just haven't added the dialogue. The flashback will be continued in the next chapter, so stay tuned. That's all for now. Ciao. 


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